Women's role in politics in the medieval Muslim world

Abstract

The objective of this paper will be to demonstrate in what ways medieval women (the upper-class women) of the Middle East made themselves visible and wielded influence or power over affairs of the state. Because of the limiting aspect of the thesis, the area that I will discuss will be limited both in geography and time. This paper will concentrate on the eastern area of the Islamic world from approximately the eighth century to the thirteenth century. The main body of the paper will deal with this time period. However, first, I will need to discuss the situation of women before Islam, Islam's rise and the changes it brought to women in the early years of its existence. And then I will cover Islam's spread into other areas, how it changed there, and thus how women were able to exert their influence within the framework of these changes.